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Members of the Utah House of Representatives didn’t fail just in making a music video.
Republicans Marc Roberts and Dan McCay got the worst grades among all members of the Utah Legislature – and the worst you can get overall – in the Alliance for a Better Utah’s first annual “Legislative Scorecard.” They were among 27 percent of lawmakers who got Ds or Fs.
And 42 of the 104 members of the legislature got the bottom-feeder grade for “good government,” as Better Utah, a good government advocate and watchdog, did separate categories in transparency and responsiveness, “shared prosperity” (fiscal), “all means all” (equality) and “sustainable future” (environment and viable practice).
Better Utah issued the report based on this year’s legislative session.
The organization’s policy and advocacy counsel, Chase Thomas, spoke to the scorecard:
Due to the fast-paced and sometimes inaccessible nature of the legislative session, we compiled this scorecard in the hopes of adding more clarity to the process. This scorecard can be used by Utahns across the state to evaluate the votes of their representatives and senators on a range of important issues. We hope it will be used to hold our legislative branch accountable to working toward continued progress for our state and each of its residents.
McCay, whose campaign sign was placed on LDS church property (that’s not allowed), and Roberts, a former BYU basketball player, joined the legislature in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
Among the typical grades, an A+ was given for scoring more points than the general maximum score that comes with voting in support of Better Utah’s positions on every bill. Legislators getting that recognition were Senate Republicans Evan Vickers, Don Ipson and Curt Bramble in the fiscal report card, 18 legislators (11 Democrats and seven Republicans) in the equality category and six House Democrats in the environment and viable practice scorecard.
To measure the combined impact on Utah’s progress, Better Utah evaluated dozens of bills that impact Utahns, the government and the state as a whole, the organization said.
For more information on the bill selection process, grading methods, and the grades, see the entire scorecard here. Folks can look up a summary of legislators’ grades here.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
